SAPO East Coast terminals re-open after high seas

Mar 22, 2007
Author: SAPO

22 March, 2007 - South African Port Operations (SAPO) east coast ports are fully operational and addressing delays caused by high swells which affected operations earlier this week.

Extraordinary high tides, heavy swells of up to 8m and strong winds caused port closures in Richard Bay, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth on Monday and Tuesday resulting in a loss of about 47 hours.

The current operational status for the various terminals is as follows:

Maydon Wharf Terminal:
No of vessels outside:    7
Average delays:           40 hours
No. of vessels on berth:  8

Car Terminal:
No of vessels outside:    0
Average delays:            0
No. of vessels on berth:  2

Durban Container Terminal:
No. of vessels outside:   14
Average Delays:            28 Hours
No. of vessels on berth:   6

Port Elizabeth Container Terminal:
No of vessels outside:     0
Average delays:             0
No. of vessels on berth:   1

Richards Bay MPT:
No. of vessels outside:     2 (expected 23.03)
Average delays:              0
No. of vessels on berth:    0

Pier 1 Container Terminal is currently closed as the terminal is under construction.

Solly Letsoalo, Chief Operations Officer Containers said: “We have implemented a recovery plan to address the 47 hour delay caused by the weather as quickly as possible and we are communicating with the shipping lines about this plan.